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WELCOME to VISITING TEACHER, MONJA ISSHIN from BRAZIL!

Dear Leaf Community,

I am pleased to welcome as a guest to our Sangha MONJA ISSHIN HAVENS from the Jisui Zend˘ in Brazil.

Isshin Havens began her training in the Soto Zen tradition at the Busshinji Temple in SŃo Paulo, Brazil, receiving monastic ordination from Coen Souza, Sensei. She realized four years of training at the Women’s Monastery in Nagoya, Japan (Aichi Senmon Nis˘d˘), where she performed Dharma Combat under the guidance of Aoyama Shund˘ Roshi, abbess of this monastery.

After one year advanced training in the US (Zen Center of Los Angeles and Zen Mountain Monastery in Mount Tremper, New York, under the guidance of Egyoku Nakao Roshi and Daido Loori Roshi respectively), she returned to Brazil where she spent one year as assistant to Coen Sensei (Zendo Brasil, Sao Paulo) before moving to Porto Alegre to lead practice groups in that city in the south of Brazil.
She received Dharma Transmission from the Master Baika (Buddhist Hymm Singing) Teacher, Shűki Onoda Roshi (Abbot of Ryűz˘-ji in the city of Tsuruoka, Yamagata-ken, Japan) and performed Zuise ceremonies at the head temples Eihei-ji and Sojiji.

She is Resident Teacher at Jisui Zend˘ (Sanga ┴guas da CompaixŃo – Sangha Waters of Compassion) and affiliated sanghas. She is a collaborating member of the Colegiado Buddhista Brasileiro, Collaborating Lecturer for UnipazSul and Speaker for the Universidade Falada.. Leads Zen retreats, as well as Rakusu Sewing Retreats, and teaches Baika. She published one book “A Vida Compassiva: CompaixŃo”, as part of a proposed series of six, as well as several magazine articles.

Rev. Isshin says that she is a little shy in English and in online forums, and may be a bit quiet around here. However, I invited her to have a look around, see how we do things at Treeleaf, and to sample the atmosphere of our community. Maybe in a few weeks, if we are nice, she will agree to offer a Talk or two for us (she says that she avoids that "mysterious" style of Zen talk and is more down to earth somewhat like Joko Beck. That sounds like our style around here!). Apparently, she also is starting to use Google+ for her Teaching in Brazil. I hope she will not be too shy, and will feel free to join in any of our conversations, and offer some of her vast experience to students while she is visiting here.

We are all honored to have her visiting this place. Welcome!

Gassho, Jundo (and Taigu)

PS - Kyonin wrote to tell me that in both Spanish and Portuguese "Monja" is the feminine form of monk. So that's "Lady Monk/Nun", her title. She is "Rev. Isshin" or "Monja Isshin".

Just one name correction: Kyonin wrote to tell me that in both Spanish and Portuguese "Monja" is the feminine form of monk. So that's "Lady Monk/Nun", her title. She is "Rev. Isshin" or "Monja Isshin".

Just one name correction: Kyonin wrote to tell me that in both Spanish and Portuguese "Monja" is the feminine form of monk. So that's "Lady Monk/Nun", her title. She is "Rev. Isshin" or "Monja Isshin".

I have made the correction! Muito obrigado, Kyonin!

Gassho, Jundo

Excellent, good to know. Thank you Jundo and Kyonin. =)

Gassho
Shingen

RINDO SHINGEN
倫道 真現

As a trainee priest, please take any commentary by me on matters of the Dharma with a pinch of salt.

In those Rinzai (and some Soto-Rinzai mixed) Lineages which engage in Koan Introspection Zazen, there is Dokusan where the student must come into the Master's room and present his or her understanding of the Koan, often in a kind of back and forth (and backless forthless) combat. There are also all the old stories where a student will surprise and challenge the Master with some repartee demonstrating his or her understanding.

In Soto Zen, however, the reference is to a ceremony ... more a choreographed and pre-scripted dance these days than real "Dharma Combat" ... called "Shuso Hossen". Shuso Hossenshiki is a ceremony found traditionally in most Soto Zen lineages, a ceremonial rite-of-passage marking a student’s promotion to the rank of Senior seat (Shuso), meaning something like "Senior Student". It takes place at the conclusion of the intensive training period of Ango during which the student serves as a model to the sangha or community. ... At the Shuso hossen ceremony, the shuso gives his or her first dharma talk and takes questions from the community in a very ritualized form of Dharma Combat. However, these days, the Koan "Mondo" or the "Dharma Combat" is now pretty much according to a written script in classical language that few understand, so rather a bit of theater. Few people even really understand the old language they are speaking ... like the difference between modern English and English during the middle ages. It is kind of a lovely dance performance, not really a "combat".

On the other hand, like theatre or dance ... it is "real", and people find the meaning within it that one finds in their heart! By playing Hamlet on stage, we really "become" Hamlet and all that his words contain.

But maybe Isshin will present her personal experience of the ritual if we ask her. Here is a video of how one looks and sounds, "acting out" a Koany tussle, and basically the content is all pre-practiced and unintelligble to most of the people listening ... and often those participating too ...

What is zuise and baika? First time I've ever heard these terms. Are there examples of them online?

Gassho, Ben

Hi Ben,

I will save Isshin from answering, and do my best.

Zuise is a ceremony for Soto Priests in Japan (not those who did not train in Japan) where one is "Abbot for a Day" at the two Soto-shu Head Temples in Japan, Eiheiji and Sojiji. Muho, the German born Abbot of Japan's Antaiji Temple, has an interesting description of his Zuise ...

If you thought that being "abbot for one night" means that Eiheiji's or S˘jiji's chauffeur is waiting for you with a limousine at the train station, you are wrong. You have to get to the temple gate by yourself until the appointed time in the afternoon. I went from Antaiji to Eiheiji in the summer of 2000 with our temple's offroad bike. The monk in charge looked surprised when I told him that I was "tonight's abbot" and looking for a parking lot. I had to change dress in a public toilet in fromt of the gate, as the "abbot for the night" is supposed turn up in koromo and rakusu, not the filthy samu-e I was wearing. After paying my 50.000 Yen at the front desk, I was shown to my room. Being the "abbot for one night", I expected to be shown to the best quarters in the temple compound. And the room I was led to was quite spacious, but to my surprised three other osh˘s-to-be were already in there. Altogether, we were four abbots for the night. The rest of the day was spent rehearsing for the next mornings ceremony. Not only were we not giving the keys to the monastery, we did not even see the real abbot (who was - at the time - about 100 years old). Of course no-one was waiting for our orders, rather we were expected to follow what we were told. It turned out that being "abbot for one night" meant nothing but filling the space of d˘shi at some of the next morning's ceremonial rituals. This turned out to be farely easy, because as the only foreigner I was placed last and just had to follow the movements of the three Japanese before me.

The biggest treat you get for your 50.000 Yen is the fancy meal following the ceremony in the morning. I hear that the unsui that work in Eiheiji's kitchen get up at one o' clock in the morning to prepare this meal for the "abbots". The whole affair ends with a photo session. Fortunately, my seniors at Antaiji had warned me that I would be billed another 50 dollars for the photographs, so I avoided having my pictures taken by the professional Eiheiji camera-man. If you bring your own camera, you can ask one of the unsui to take a snap shot of you. http://antaiji.dogen-zen.de/eng/201011.shtml
andhttp://antaiji.dogen-zen.de/eng/201007.shtml

"Baika" is a lovely type of Buddhist religious hymm singing. My Dharma Granpa, Rempo Niwa Zenji, the former Abbot of Eiheiji, was a big Baika fellow. Here is an example. As to further details, you will have to ask Isshin as I do not know very much.

Zuise is a ceremony for Soto Priests in Japan (not those who did not train in Japan) where one is "Abbot for a Day" at the two Soto-shu Head Temples in Japan, Eiheiji and Sojiji. Muho, the German born Abbot of Japan's Antaiji Temple, has an interesting description of his Zuise ...

"Baika" is a lovely type of Buddhist religious hymm singing. My Dharma Granpa, Rempo Niwa Zenji, the former Abbot of Eiheiji, was a big Baika fellow. Here is an example. As to further details, you will have to ask Isshin as I do not know very much.

Gassho, Jundo

Wow. And here I thought all of Japanese chanting/singing was monotone! Interestng, interesting! Thank you for sharing.

Self-presentation:
Hello, members of Treeleaf Sangha. My Dharma name is Isshin (one heart-mind). I read my first books about Buddhism over 40 years ago, but it was only in 1996 that I finally had the opportunity to practice under a teacher who spoke a language I could understand (there has been a temple serving the Japanese immigrant community for over 50 years). I received monastic ordination in 1999 and went to Japan in 2000 to train at the women’s monastery (Aichi Senmon Nisodo) in Nagoya, after a 2-week stay at Hosshin-ji in Obama. I practiced for 4 years at Nisodo, then spent close to a year at Zen Center of Los Angeles and a short 2-week stay at Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt. Tremper, NY before returning to Brazil, where I have lived since 1971 (I was born and raised in the US).

In 2007, I became the resident teacher of a small practice group in southern Brazil and have 2 novice monks (unsui) at present. We struggle with financial challenges, but I love this group deeply. I keep several blogs – in Portuguese, have Youtube channels (in Portuguese) and a Facebook page… . A search for “Monja Isshin” will take you to them, if any of you are interested. Google-garble translator helps – and, people who understand Spanish can follow a lot of Portuguese…

I have very little time for surfing Internet – I joined this forum because I enjoy seeing what other teachers are doing. When I can, I will try to contribute.

Thank you for the warm welcome!

Dharma Combat in Japan – My Personal Experience

An officially recognized temple in Japan can have no more than 2 Dharma combat ceremonies per year (2 training angos), so it was quite an honor for me to be able to do my own Dharma Combat at the Aichi Senmon Nisodo (women’s training monastery) in Nagoya, under the guidance of Shundo Aoyama Roshi.

Memorizing those strange near meaningless phrases was difficult. Fortunately, I received a lot of help from fellow trainees. The general rehearsal was a complete disaster. But something happened during the ceremony itself – somehow the words simply came out of my mouth… So, I got through the ceremony without embarrassment.

Because there were two Americans practicing at the monastery at the time, I had the opportunity to experience the two versions of Dharma Combat – the formal, memorized ritualized version and the free question version.

And I see definite advantages to both versions – to the point where I hope to be able to require my own students to do a couple of memorized, ritualized questions themaselves – in Japanese (!). We are presently trying to schedule Dharma combat for one of my students and plan to request 2 memorized questions in Japanese if we are able to do his ceremony where there will be Japanese monks helping.

Because the memorized questions and answers are in old, classical Japanese, not even the Japanese monks and nuns truly understand what is actually being said (although the opening and closing parts of the ceremony are in modern Japanese, as I recall). So, my own situation (barely speaking Japanese) ended up not being all that different from the situation of the Japanese themselves.

I found the ritualized, memorized part to be a genuine “energy combat” from the Hara which I also believe prepared me for dealing with “energy” here with my work with our ceremonies, retreats and student’s issues. It’s hard to describe and verbalize, so I don’t know how much sense this makes to any of you.

Many of us cannot handle forceful - perhaps even angry - exchanges without getting flusterd and confused, so it was good training.

Free questions, on the other hand, seemed to have less “energy” being thrown back and forth, and appeared, in some ways, to be more intellectual, with less Hara. Since then, I’ve had the same impression of free question Dharma combats that I have seen – less “energy” and more intellectual quick-wittedness… Some ceremonies I have seen here in the West seem to be more like “enjoyable chit-chats” and “a walk in the park” with quick, witty - even funny - exchanges instead of being any kind of “combat”.

Many Buddhist traditions, such as Tibetan and True Pure Land, practice debating and the debates can get quite dramatic. So I think our Dharma combat is supposed to be our version of these debates. As I understand it, the concept behind Dharma combat would be for the other trainees to be "testing" the new shuso (leader of the novices), and that this testing should be forceful and energetic - which it was at Nisodo.

I found it a deeply moving experience – when I see a video of a Dharma combat, I still feel deep emotion even now. It was hard, but it was a genuine rite of passage and an important part of my training, for which I am extremely grateful. Deep bows of gratitude to Aoyama Roshi and to the fellow trainees who helped me prepare – and who then “fought the good combat” with me in the ceremony.

Yes, Baika is wonderful - and Japanese "Shomyo" (ritual chanting) is incredible when it is done well.

You can see Baika being part of the ceremonial entrance for ceremonies, as part of the ceremonies celebrating 50 years’ anniversary of the Busshinji temple in Sao Paulo, Brazil, which is the South American headquarters for Soto Zen and is where I began my practice.

You can hear a beautiful example of a version of Shomyo-style chanting in this video, starting at 5:20. It is being sung by my Dharma Transmission teacher, Onoda Roshi, who was Ino for this ceremony and is a Master Baika Teacher. The ceremony is called Manto Kuyo (Ten thousand candles memorial service) and during this part of the ceremony, pieces of wood with the names of deceased persons written on them are being read and then burned (although I suspect that there was no actual fire in that “box” there at the moment – I imagine they were burned later in a safer way, but I can’t really say for sure). While the other monks are chanting the names in monotone-stye, Onoda Roshi is “singing” them in Shomyo style.

This was also part of the 50 year anniversary ceremonies at Busshinji temple.